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EU member states are threatened with rape. that do not comply with the European law on passenger rights. According to a high-ranking EU official, the Commission will not recommend weakening passengers’ rights in compensation with the right to canceled flights, as twelve Member States, including Greece, wish.
Bonds, the European official emphasized, must be an option (they cannot be provided by airlines instead of cash) and Member States must ensure that the relevant EU legislation. observed in its territory. The same source adds that companies must make coupons attractive to consumers for cash preference (for example, with protection against corporate bankruptcy, flexibility in the services they can be used for, etc.) if states members allow companies to violate relevant legislation, the official warns that the Commission can use all its resources, including initiating a non-compliance process. Today, along with the publication of the guidelines for tourism and the opening of the EU’s internal borders, a letter will be sent to Member States on this subject.
Otherwise, the Commission’s roadmap for the new phase of pandemic management calls for a “gradual opening” based on three pillars: epidemiological data in countries where movement will be allowed (to be similar and to show a situation under control); the validity of similar security measures for hygiene and social elimination; and proportionality (balancing health protection by mitigating the social and economic consequences of restrictive measures). It should be noted that the lifting of the ban should not include discrimination between different regions of a country. As long as epidemiological data and security measures between countries opening their borders converge, the Commission considers that there is no need to impose a 14-day quarantine on travelers returning to their country.
In the briefing on the package, it was emphasized that it is very important for tourism, but also for the overall possibility that a country controls the epidemic, has adequate monitoring through testing and follow-up, so that any new imported cases be limited and do not convert. in a second wave of the crown. The European Center for Disease Control (ECDC) and the Commission will help strengthen the capacity of Member States to carry out examinations by jointly acquiring the necessary equipment. Another European official stressed that it was “very important” that there be real-time information on the evolution of the virus and that Member States report on the number of tests they carry out and their strategy on this front.
The same official expressed skepticism about the idea of ”health passports” through antibody testing, underscoring the uncertainty about the reliability of the tests and the duration of immunity that the antibodies have. Furthermore, he said, the health passport poses the risk of motivating some people to deliberately become infected with the virus. Regarding diagnostic tests in the country of origin, he said that “they are not a guarantee” that someone will not get sick after traveling, another reason why it is essential to strengthen the ability to carry out tests and follow-up.
As for the tracking applications that are currently being developed in several Member States, a third Community official describes it as a “very difficult task” to achieve interoperability between them. To be used in this year’s tourist season, he says, interoperability must have been achieved in two months.
Finally, the Commission, with the assistance of the Member States, will create an interactive map that will inform tourists about the conditions in each destination (epidemiological data, health infrastructure, security measures in restaurants and hotels, etc.).
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